The Rundown - December 3, 2021
News, Notes and Reflections on the World of Non-Profit Leadership and Management
The Case of the Start-Up Non-Profit
I read this piece on a website called LitHub. The piece is written by a young lady named Leigh Stein, who also wrote the book Self Care. Self Care is a novel based loosely on her own life as she works in the world of internet influencers that from the outside seem great, but under the hood is really toxic workplace. Anyone who reads this article would be gobsmacked. I know I was.
While the piece deals a lot with literature, at it’s core, it’s a piece on the world of start-ups, non-profits and hustle culture. And honestly, how many of us feel like we are swimming in those ponds simultaneously?
In her article, Stein relays that as the executive director of a nonprofit, in which she was paid to put on creative writing conferences (that cost $80,000 to put on) was paid a whopping $14/hour. She went heavily into personal debt to put the event on (even taking a loan from her own mother) and worked insane hours to pursue this dream.
This dream she had was best exemplified in the character Maren she created in her novel. One excerpt in the piece discussed what Maren’s life was like:
As executive director, my job was to eat salad with rich women from all over the great island of Manhattan, compliment their avant-garde jewelry and trend-driven philanthropic work, and then beg them to come on as sustaining donors for a series of anatomically accurate yet artistically rendered vaginal sculptures. Every lunch ended with me half-heartedly reaching for the check until they stopped my hand.
So, what does this mean for me?
This piece was pretty raw and even had me reflect on my own personal role here at the non-profit I run. And I came up with a few things that might be helpful for you.
You deserve to be compensated
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty right off the bat. As a non-profit executive director, you deserve to be compensated for your work. And I know budgets can be tight, but you have knowledge, skills and abilities that have worth in the marketplace. Even if a non-profit is in its beginning stages, there is zero sin in creating a budget in which you are being compensated for the work you are doing. If people are going to support your efforts, they are going to support you, including the cost of putting a roof over your head.
Work is Shared in the well-run Non-Profit
Read that part again about the Executive Director eating another salad with a could-be supporter. I am sure if I read the book, there would also be plenty written about how this person was involved with operations, fundraising events, press relations, budget and finance; in other words, everything.
News flash. You are not good everything. I am not good everything. Ask the people here where I work if I get involved in operations and the answer is no. Ask them if I am good with fundraising events. Another no. I know what I am good at doing. I know what my team is good at doing. If this place depended solely on me to do “all the things”, this place would crash and burn. And I would dare say your organization would end up with the same fate. Hustle culture is killing us and it’s killing our sector.
It’s not your job to do everything under the sun that the organization requires. It’s your job to know what needs to be done and it’s your job to ensure your team has what it takes to do it.
Mission and Vision Clarity is Key
As I read the piece, one nagging thought never left my mind; what exactly does this non-profit do? On the face, it puts on a conference. But can you really build a non-profit around a conference? It’s imperative that there is something more; a guiding mission and vision to serve others in some unique way that helps the world.
A conference is not goal. It’s an event. It’s certainly not a mission or a vision. It’s a measurable discrete thing that can be measured. At its core, it is nothing more than an output.
You can’t build sustaining non-profits around an output. Why? Because what happens when the output doesn’t materialize? What happens when the objective isn’t met? Are you done? Is it over?
Maybe I am too harsh, but I wonder if Ms. Stein wasn’t caught up in the attractive trappings of a beautiful event to forget what exactly the mission and vision of the event was. It seems clear that Ms. Stein wants to help aspiring writers get paid for their work; a noble goal. And she was doing other things to help others meet that goal, she taught workshops and helped others with editing.
So, how did she get from a one-on-one service to a full blown $80,000 conference? Did she have a board of advisors that helped her think about this and wonder if this wasn’t in line with what the mission and vision of the non-profit should be? All these questions swirl in my head. I’d love to know what you think about it. Leave a comment or share what you think!
Local News You Can Use
Academy Registrations Still Open
Registration is STILL OPEN for the Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership at Edison State Community College. For nineteen years, the program has been helping nonprofit leaders, both staff and board members, learn from other practitioners to help them serve their communities better.
This year’s program includes four sessions (January 19, February 16, March 16 and April 20) and concludes with the Mosaic of Community Leadership Conference on May 18th.
You can get more information by contacting Rick Hanes at Edison State Community College at 937.778.7806 or via email at foundation@edisonohio.edu.
An Excerpt from the “Tools, Tips and Tricks” Newsletter
The Pinnacle Solutions, “Tips, Tools and Tricks” newsletter comes out every Tuesday and is available for a paid subscription for as little as $7/month. Here is an excerpt from our last version:
I also hear people lament that they never have enough time to do the things that they need to do to take care of themselves. Time to read, exercise, reflect, etc.
What would it look like if you scheduled those things into your planner? What if you took time for yourself that becomes non-negotiable to the other people wanting to get on your calendar?
On the face, it may seem a bit selfish and self-centered. In reality, I have found that it leads to a more disciplined life. If you place a time in your planner to go exercise, your odds of exercising during that time and day, just improved exponentially. Things like taking care of yourself, don’t “just happen”. If they are going to be part of a lifestyle change, they must be planned for and scheduled. You need to create every opportunity you can to make it happen.
I can guarantee you that once you start scheduling things for yourself in your own schedule, you will quickly find that you have more than enough time to do the things you want to do while still maintaining your responsibilities at home and at work.
If you are searching for good information that will help you manage and lead a non-profit agency, please subscribe to the “Tips, Tools and Tricks” newsletter! And of course, as a huge “thank you”, all of our paid subscribers will get a special gift.
What do you want to know?
One of the things I would like to add in these weekly emails is to take some time to answer YOUR questions about the non-profit world; fundraising, leadership, tools, whatever is on your mind, let me know. I’d love to dig into it! Send me an email to: pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com!
Other Ways to Connect
Did you can also be a paid subscriber to Pinnacle Strategies content on substack? Why would you want to? Through the paid newsletter, each week you will be given a tangible tool or deliverable that YOU can use to help you understand and serve your non-profit better. The first tool is about Giving Ladders. Huh? Well, become a paid subscriber for $7/month and you can learn more!
Also, our coaching practice has a few openings. If you are interested in working with me to get your nonprofit organization on a track to achieve the big missions you have for your organization, please reach out to me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
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